AgroStar, an agritech start-up, said it has collaborated with The Weather Company as it aims to transform the agribusiness for farmers in rural India.
It would be using hyperlocal weather forecast data and insights from The Weather Company, an IBM business, to help farmers make informed decisions for better crop output.
Critical insights
The firm said the collaboration would enable the two companies to provide critical insights into crop disease risks. It would also provide the probability of occurrence of a particular pest or disease with high levels of accuracy in crops like cotton and chilli. These insights, delivered to the farmer through AgroStar’s voice and digital platform, has the potential to increase crop yield and reduce crop damage, the company said.
“We are very excited to deliver at scale, near-precision agriculture practices to small and marginal farmers,” said Shardul Sheth, co-founder, AgroStar.
AgroStar said it had acquired a large and accurate database of farmer profiles. These inputs are combined with The Weather Company’s disease and pest forecast algorithms to equip farmers with the information they need for effective management at every stage of the crop. This will help farmers take proactive steps towards effective crop management versus addressing problems reactively post-occurrence. This pre-emptive and scientific method of pest and disease management will lead to the reduction of production costs and the growth of good quality crops. “Farmers now know when precisely to schedule these interventions," says Himanshu Goyal, India sales and alliances leader at The Weather Company, in a statement.
